The everlasting wellspring of all good things.
A call to worship.
Themes
Being • Life • Health • Joy • Reward • Good and perfect gifts • Nothing • Vulnerability • Need • Desire • Disappointment • Boredom • Christ’s indwelling • Seeking after God
Any life we have is given and sustained by God. Any joy we have flows from God. Apart from God, we have no being, no life, and no joy.
Scripture reading
Acts 17:24–27 Hebrews 11:6 James 1:17 1 Peter 2:2–3
This call to worship1 is from across the New Testament. First, from Paul when he was addressing the supreme tribunal of Athens as recorded by Luke, and then from the author of the book of Hebrews, then James, and then Peter.
God gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. He made every nation, and He made them to live on all the face of the earth. And He determined their allotted periods and even the boundaries of their dwelling places, and He did this in such a way that they should seek Him, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. For He is not far from each one of us. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe (i) that he exists and (ii) that he rewards those—he gifts those— who seek him. Every good and perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of the heavenly light, in whom there is nothing deceitful, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. And so, like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Prayer
God and Father in heaven, Your being has no boundaries; Your life has no boundaries; Your joy has no boundaries. Any being we have comes from You. Any life we have is given and sustained by You. Any joy we have flows from You. Apart from You, we have no being, no life, and no joy. We should not seek our being, our life, our joy in any finite thing apart from You. We confess, though, that at times we do. And when we do, it’s pointless and empty; it’s destructive and disappointing. Apart from You, we really have nothing, and we are nothing. Anything that we would seek apart from You would be nothing; because apart from You there is nothing. All the burdens we carry and all the distress we feel… it mostly—or maybe entirely— comes from all our seeking after nothing. No one is good except You. So anything that is good is from You. And You’ve configured the world in such a way that we’d seek You and perhaps find You. And You reward those who do earnestly seek You. And You’ve rewarded us with good and perfect gifts. We’ve tasted Your goodness. And we crave, now, Your pure spiritual food. Nevertheless, Father, we are vulnerable and needy, especially so when the things we’ve come to need are taken from us. We grasp, we thirst, we hunger, we long, we hope for the things that we need in order to survive. We admit that the finite goods of this world evoke our desire, and lure us into action such that we acquire them, and quiet the desires that disturb us. But, however much we need these things, they are all temporary and derivative, and even if we depend on them, they are not dependable. They are not constant. They are not eternal. They are not the good itself. They cannot end our desire for the good, and they cannot give us perfect joy. And so, Father, when we do strive for these things apart from You, we always find ourselves disappointed or bored. Any good thing we do get our hands on, only points outside itself to You, Father— the source of anything good. And in it, we hear Your command to us, “Seek me!” No matter our needs, we cannot find good in bread, in health, and in life apart from You. Any good we enjoy in a thing is good from You. You are the chief object of our desire. So redirect us, Father, to the good that is You. You have made us physical. Our stomachs need food, our lungs need air, our eyes need light. You have made us spiritual. Our minds need truth and beauty, our hearts need love. You have made us persons and so are made for fellowship with You, our creator. You are holy, righteous, loving, powerful, patient, kind, free— really everything that is a worthy object of our desire. So make Yourself present to us, then, and assure our hearts that You alone are the everlasting wellspring of all good things. Apart from faith— faith that You are the source of all good— our desires settle on finite things. And we seek vainly in other creatures and things the fullness found only in You, our creator. Free us from slavery to lesser things and direct us to the ultimate good. Enable us to enjoy the finite things we do have for what they are: gifts from You. We know we can’t locate You among created things. We know we can’t find You in our minds. We can’t find You behind our feelings. But somehow You are nearer to us than all of these. You indwell us. You contain us. You empower us and sustain us. We are present to You completely and You know us thoroughly. In the name of Jesus Christ, who is truly human, who makes us fully known, whose life is our life, whose faith is our faith, whose desire for You is our desire, Amen.
Inspiring resources
A call to worship creates wonderment, amazement, curiosity, yearning, captivation, provocation, hopefulness, thankfulness, affection, rapture, delight. As these mix together, the response is worship.
If this call to worship leaves you wondering or curious or provoked or hopeful, consider diving into this awesome book that inspired me.
1
This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, May 29, 2022.